Beautiful Stranger
by Safaia
Summary: Dom Cobb handed Eames a picture of their mark; a brown eyed, dark haired kid, a baby really, the forger could only stare and wonder what this kid did to make the military turn to them for the extraction.
1. Part One

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part One**

Eames was enjoying the heat of Mombasa when he realized he was going to have to work soon. He had avoided looking at his bank account for the last few months and went with the gamble of getting declined at the wrong place and the wrong time. So he wandered from casino to casino and would gamble any chance he got. Sometimes he won, most of the time he didn't, and when he did win he quickly lost it again. He would charm people into buying him drinks and then sneak away before they could try to start a conversation. It was a system that worked for him. It was 2A.M. on a Tuesday after a long night at the casino that Eames decided to see what damage he had done over the last few months. Somewhere in the logical, and sober, part of his brain he should have expected this but the damage turned out to be much worse than he thought. If he didn't get some income within the next month paying rent would be difficult.

After several months of being more or less in hiding Eames resurfaced in the criminal world. He was a forger and those were hard to come by. He was counting on being one of the few and one of the best to find work quickly. He sat on his hands for a week until his phone finally rang.

"Eames, there are some people that want to speak to you," the voice of Dave said. 'Dave' was not his real name but he made his wages by being the middle man. He knew everyone and no one connected for the first time unless it was through him. It prevented any law enforcement agents from inserting themselves right into their world. The fact that Dave was calling interested Eames; there were few people in this profession that he had not worked with.

"Any information about the job or the people?" Eames asked because the last thing he wanted to do was appear desperate even if it was the truth.

"They're being very hush-hush about the job, but it's a husband and wife team, architect and extractor," Dave replied.

"Do they seem legitimate? I've never heard of a husband and wife team before and I haven't been out of the loop that long," the forger asked because now he was interested.

"Yes, very much so. There have been whispers about these two and all signs point to professionals with talent. My background check has revealed nothing that would convince me otherwise," Dave said. "Should I give them your information?"

"Let's see what these two are made of; send them my way," Eames said and the line went dead. If it was anyone else he would have been offended but that was just how the man worked. Eames drummed his fingers on the table and smiled to himself; he had a feeling this was going to be an interesting job

The phone call came a day later. Eames was half asleep on his couch trying to decipher whether or not his body was going to be hungover. He was having a mental battle concerning the matter when the phone rang. He made no attempt to move save reaching over and answering the phone.

"How may I help you?" he asked despite knowing exactly who was on the other line; this was his work number after all.

"Mr. Eames, my name is Dom Cobb and I was wondering if we could meet to discuss a business proposal," the man on the other line said.

"That sounds like a fine idea. Where would you like to meet?" Eames asked and wondered where he was going to get the money to fly anywhere.

"How fast can you make it to the States?" Cobb asked. The forger inwardly winced at how much that would cost him.

"Give me a day to get my affairs in order and I'll be on my way," Eames said.

"Great, contact me when you land and fly into LA if you can. If not we can meet in New York," Cobb said.

"How about New York then? We can meet halfway somewhat," he said and there was a pause. It would depend on how badly they needed him if they would go to New York to meet him.

"That sounds fair. We'll see you in a couple of days," Cobb said.

"Until then," and they both hung up. Eames rolled off the couch and stood tall. He needed to dig into the last of the money in his bank account and head for the States. From there he had a meeting with Dom Cobb about a job that no one was talking about. Highly secretive jobs usually put him off but for some reason it did not bother him this time. Usually when there was a job that no one was talking about it meant it had something to do with either extremely sensitive information or very powerful people. Both of those were an easy way to get involved with something far out of one's league and Eames had avoided that for years. There was something about the concept of a married couple working in this busines that intrigued Eames a lot more than he cared to admit.

It was not until Eames touched down in New York that he realized that Cobb had no idea what he looked like and vice-versa. He was not expecting a sign in the lobby that said 'welcome to New York Eames' but it also seemed like there had been some major communication issues since now he was lost as to what to do next. He slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and dialed the number that Cobb had called from a few days prior. It rang twice before it was answered.

"Are you in the airport?" Cobb asked without any form of greeting and Eames was beginning to think that 'manners' did not exist in this business.

"Walking toward the taxi pickup as we speak. Where would you like me to go?" Eames asked.

"Just wait by the pickup, we'll find you," Cobb said and he hung up. Eames was not entirely fond of the idea that someone could pick him out of a crowd but he kept that to himself. He really did not have any place to protest since these people had pulled him in for a job. So he stood on the edge of the curb and tried not to think about how utterly American this city was until a very basic car stopped in front of him and the passenger door opened. A man, maybe a little older than him, with dark blond hair and very blue eyes stared back. "Have a seat, Mr. Eames." The forger climbed into the car and it pulled away from the airport. "Dom Cobb," Cobb said and offered a hand as he drove along the road.

"Charmed," Eames said as they shook hands and he saw movement in the backseat.

"This is my wife, Mal," Cobb said and Eames turned to see a young woman with curly brown hair and grey eyes looking back at him.

"It's nice to meet you," she said and her voice had a light French accent to it. He politely nodded at her and sat back in the seat.

"Introductions are all well and good but I'd really like to know why this job is so secretive. That usually means that things can go wrong very quickly," Eames said and out of the corner of his eye he saw Cobb shift uncomfortably.

"Things are a little different about this job, even for the two of us, but I really think we should discuss it when we can give you the information directly," Mal replied. "And if you're worried about sensitive information why did you agree to work with us?"

"I haven't agreed to work with you yet, darling. I'm just here for the presentation. And I agreed because the concept of you two is fascinating," Eames replied. Cobb looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Partnerships in this business rarely work out so the thought of a husband and wife doing this is not something one would expect." The forger could see that Mal was watching him carefully. "I like things that can't be explained."

"Good to know," she said. "And I like to think we do things a little differently from the rest of our competition. It's what makes us stand out and what draws the attention of people like yourself."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mrs. Cobb," Eames replied and he grinned at her. She did not seem offended and smiled back at him. They rode for some time before the car stopped in front of a large hotel. The Cobbs climbed out of the car and Eames gathered his bag. The walked through the lobby and he was surprised that they did not stop so he could get his own room. Instead they walked straight into the elevator and went to the top floor. The penthouse that they were apparently renting was more like the places he expected his employers to stay in, not his co-workers. He was impressed and there was no use denying it. "The last few places I've worked in were basements and abandoned warehouses. This is a little nicer."

"I like that idea better than this but someone insists against it," Cobb said and his wife beamed at him.

"Please ignore my husband; he seems to think that just because we do illegal things that we have to hide like rats. We got this place when we found out that you wanted to meet us here. There is another room down the hall where you are welcome to stay."

"You are displaying a rather large amount of trust considering you just met me, Mrs. Cobb," Eames said.

"Maybe I just have faith in people," Mal replied and she smiled. "Or maybe it's the 9MM I keep within arms reach."

"Touche," Eames said and he set his bag aside. He was secretly thankful that they had a place for him to stay because his rather small bank account barely had enough money to afford a hotel room for a few days. "So when are you two finally going to tell me about this job or should I go sleep off my jet lag first?" Cobb glanced at Mal and the two of them went into the sitting room. Eames followed and fell into a rather large and comfortable chair. The husband and wife sat down on a couch nearby and Mal pulled a file out from under the couch.

"A high ranking official in the military is worried that someone witnessed something he was not supposed to. Apparently, they were moving terrorist suspects in and out of interrogation and it was supposed to be an undercover operation," Mal explained. "He seems to think this civilian saw something that could prove to be a problem for his section of the military but he wants us to find out for sure either way."

"We're doing work for the government? You should give me one good reason not to run out of here right now because I don't know about the two of you but I have warrants," Eames said in a low voice.

"I think it's a bad idea too but this guy is hiring out a private contractor. It's for a military man but not for the military," Cobb said. "He doesn't want any direct contact with us and I'd like to keep it that way too. The less he knows about us the better."

"That's all fine and dandy but this is still a political mess waiting to happen. Why would I want to get involved in that?" the forger asked.

"The pay is fantastic and it's a safe job because we are flying under the radar. The official wants nothing to do with us save our information and giving us our pay. As long as we stay smart about communication there is nothing to worry about," Mal said and she handed him the file. "This is the mark." Eames took the file and opened it. Paperclipped to a stack of papers was a photo of a kid, barely twenty-one, with dark hair slicked back and dark brown eyes. The picture was of him in a crowd and he was wearing a perfectly pressed suit that was likely worth more than the entire contents of Eames' bank account.

"This is a kid, a baby, what could he have seen that could piss off the military?" he asked. Cobb shrugged.

"I don't know the details, we still need to find out what we'll be extracting, but whatever they think this kid knows has them running scared. So scared that they are coming to us," he said. Eames took the picture off the papers and looked at it.

"So who is he?" the forger asked.

"His name is Arthur," Mal replied.


	2. Part Two

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part Two**

Eames sat in a chair in the sitting room and looked over the file. He had been in the States for almost a month now and the Cobbs were still as fascinating as he had expected them to be. Much to his surprise Cobb was the architect and Mal was the extractor. As far as he knew there were only a handful of female extractors working in the business and the more he learned about these people the more baffled he became that they were not more well known. The sketches Eames saw of the levels they created and the things she had extracted without leaving a fingerprint behind were impressive. The dynamic between them was just as interesting. Cobb was devoted to Mal in a way Eames had thought was made up by Hollywood. She trusted him unconditionally and he could see the benefits of working with someone who understood you so well. It was almost enough to convince him that having a partner was better than not having a partner but at the end of the day he would rather have no one else to look out for besides himself.

The person Cobb had hired to do their research was terrible. The guy had no idea how to go about getting the crucial details on Arthur and now a month later he still had almost no idea what this kid was like. There were some basics that were not hard to find; he was twenty-one, a graduate of Harvard, born on the East Coast and that was really all they knew. The guy had not found out what Arthur studied, where he was born, or even what his last name was. Either this man was incompetent or Arthur was very good at covering his tracks. Eames stared at the picture and tried to get a feel for the kid just by looking at him but everything was too precise and pampered to really see what was real and what was a facade because who honestly wore suits like that at his age?

The door opened and Mal walked in. She had some food in a bag but she also had a folder tucked under her arm. She kicked the door closed and set the bags on the floor. "These Americans and their cities that are just so modern and boring."

"Where we come from our cities are older than their country so I can't say I'm surprised that we're better designers," Eames replied but his eyes were locked on the papers. "Oh I do hope that is a present for me."

"It's information, or more of it, that will point us in the right direction," Mal said and she handed Eames the folder. "This boy is proving to be a difficult person to track down."

"I agree. I can't decide who I'm going to forge if I can't get a read on him," the forger said and he opened the folder. They had an address, finally, and they were not even in the same city. Eames assumed that they had settled into New York because that was where the job was but now it turned out they needed to go to Boston. "Looks like we get to do some more traveling."

"What do you mean?" Cobb said as he walked in from his bedroom. The architect liked to work in silence and would often shut himself up in the room so he could design mazes.

"This kid lives in Boston," Eames said and he dropped the file on the table. The more they had to call him 'Arthur' the more he wished they had a last name to go on. Calling him by his first name seemed too personal, like they knew him somehow, and that could not be further from the case. Never before had Eames had this much trouble trying to understand someone.

"Then we had best be on our way," Mal replied. The three of them packed up their belongings and headed for the airport. Eames had not told them how little money he had and another plane ticket was just going to make it worse. He secretly hoped that they would decide on a lavish suite again so he had at least a couch to sleep on. The flight was quick but the ticket was atrocious and his bank account was getting dangerously low. Mal seemed perfectly happy to resume their work in another hotel but Cobb pointed out that now they were in the same city as the mark and things needed to be done differently. She was not happy when he brought them to an old apartment building. The glare Cobb received was further proof to Eames that he was not the marrying type.

"I don't see why we can't just work in the hotel," Mal said as they drove from the apartment building to the hotel they were apparently staying in. He really hoped that he had a bed to sleep in tonight.

"Considering the situation I think it would be best if we kept where we sleep as far away from the job as possible," Cobb argued and Mal seemed to accept that. They checked into a nice hotel and Mal asked if he needed somewhere to stay. Eames was suave about it, adding that only if they did not mind, and secured a bed to sleep in. They settled in for the night but the forger had trouble falling asleep. This kid had eluded all attempts at finding any sort of information on him. Eames was beginning to see why the military was so agitated by a guy who could barely drink. Arthur was nothing short of a mystery and the forger wondered how they could possibly get this kid's subconscious to trust them. Someone who left such a hard trail to follow must have trouble trusting people. He had a feeling this kid was going to be one problem after another.

Cobb said he was not comfortable creating a full level without more information on Arthur. Mal agreed and said she would look into it. At some point they needed to find out exactly what they were extracting. The general, who they were communicating with via web cam and online phones, was taking vague to a new level.

"Sir, I don't think you understand how this works," Mal said after the third call. "Just think about how many secrets you have. If I don't know what I'm looking for it could take hours to try to find this information. Time is one thing we don't have in the dream." The general did not have his camera hooked up so they could not see his face and she kept theirs off.

"I am paying you to find out whether this kid knows anything. I just want you to do the job I am paying you for," the general replied and he was beginning to sound annoyed. Eames looked up from his desk; a general in the military willing to work with criminals getting angry was not a good thing.

"All I need to know is what I'm looking for. If I don't the extraction could fail and rarely can we try this more than once," she said keeping her voice firm.

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" the general asked and now Cobb was interested in the conversation. Mal looked at both of them and shook her head.

"No, I'm just trying to get the job done-"

"I don't care if you need to try more than once. Keep the boy under lock and key and pick his brain over and over again until you find my information. You will know the information if and when you find it," the general interrupted before he severed the connection. Mal rubbed her temples and sighed heavily.

"He doesn't understand how extraction works," Cobb said. "He's been under but that doesn't mean he can even begin to understand what it's like to really try and find specifics."

"He's making me nervous," Mal confessed. "Putting someone under over and over again is not a wise thing."

"I guess we need to make sure it gets done the first time," Eames said. She nodded and the three of them went back to work. The forger looked over his papers before he had had enough of sitting around and stood. He announced he was going out for a drink and the Cobbs waved him off and said to call if he needed a cab. Eames turned on his heels and walked out into the city. The rental that he managed to get at a half decent price got him around the city easily but it was not a bar he was looking for. Instead he found Arthur's apartment building and looked up at it. It was modern and simple looking; there was a door that was always locked unless someone was let in from the inside or buzzed up; the apartments looked like they were more or less the same size. It was extremely blank, a place with no personality, and he thought that spoke volumes about their mark. He counted three floors up and what he guessed was four windows over. The window with the closed blinds and the dim light, he was sure that was Arthur's apartment, and he could see the faint outline of someone moving inside. Judging by the shadows Eames made a guess that there was only one person.

The lights in the apartment went out and the forger wondered if he really wanted sit here for a while. He had to come up with a way to either get into the apartment or find a place so they could get the job done. After that they needed an easy escape route just in case someone saw something. On top of that he still knew nothing about Arthur or what kind of person he was. Eames was running a million things through his head when the door to the apartment building opened and Arthur walked out. This was what he was good at, watching people, getting a handle on them, trying to notice the little things and how he could manipulate parts of themselves that they did not even know existed. From across the street he could see that Arthur was dressed in another one of those suits that probably cost more than Eames wanted to think about. The way he walked was very tall and straight like he was all business all the time. The car the mark climbed in was boring compared to his attire and Arthur started down the road.

The smart thing to do, Eames decided, would be to drive away now. They had not decided that it was time to start watching Arthur directly yet. They needed to make sure they kept their distance for as long as possible so the mark never caught on that he was being profiled. Following at this stage in the game was just not the smart thing to do. They did not have a level built, they were not sure what they were looking for, hell they did not even know what kind of person they were dealing with. For all they knew that kid could pull a gun on them at any moment. He made the military nervous and that, in turn, made the forger nervous as well. There had to be a certain amount of danger to a young man who had people twice his age worried.

In the end he did not do the smart thing at all. Instead his curiosity for this kid, for Arthur, was enough to make him start the car and follow nearly a block and a half behind. Eames drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and pulled into a parking lot a block away when Arthur stopped. The kid climbed out of his car and walked up to what looked like a hole in the wall bar. Eames creased his eyebrows; someone in that attire going into a place like that would stand out. The forger loosened his tie, rolled up his sleeves and walked into the bar. It was a terrible idea going into that bar but he did it anyway. He had a feeling Mal was going to yell at him later.

The first thing Eames noticed was that the place was busy and he was thankful for that. If it was empty there was a good chance that Arthur could have noticed him, committed his face to memory and things would go down hill from there. Instead the forger eased his way through the crowd of people until he saw Arthur standing at the end of the room. The kid was talking to an older man who looked like he might own the bar. The argument did not seem like it was heated or intense in any way. Instead Arthur reached into his jacket and handed the man a folder. Eames raised an eyebrow; the kid had had that hidden away and he had not even noticed. That was something he normally could see but for some reason Arthur managed to give him the slip. The man opened the folder and nodded before he reached into his pocket and handed the kid a stack of bills. They shook hands and Arthur turned to leave. Eames watched him carefully but averted his eyes the moment he thought they were going to make eye contact.

The forger had a good idea about what he thought Arthur did for a living now. He was invisible, he had almost no connections in this world, he seemed financially set judging by his attire and now he was getting paid a vast amount of money for papers. Arthur was the information man, the person people hired when someone needed something found or research done, and that meant he was very astute about his surroundings.. Eames knew the type because he was the same way. He would notice if someone was following him, watching him, and it would not take much to make him realize this. The kid, their mark, reminded the forger all too much of himself and the way he moved throughout the world.

"Just brilliant," Eames muttered and he ordered a drink.


	3. Part Three

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part Three**

Eames was not surprised when he returned back to their suite and Mal screamed at him for following Arthur. She lectured him for all of five minutes until he told her what he learned about Arthur. Then she sat down and fell completely silent. Cobb did as well because they knew the type as much as Eames did. This was going to complicate things even more now. On top of not knowing what they were looking for in Arthur's mind now they knew that the kid was the type of person who would notice being followed. The three of them sat in silence for a long time. The forger wondered if they were going to pull out of the job. Logically it made the most sense. Considering the person they were working for, the information they were trying to find and the mark there were so many things that could go wrong. Mal chewed on the tip of her thumb as if she was deep in thought before she nodded and stood.

"We need to press forward but we need to make sure we do this right," she said. "Eames managed to get some us some insight on Arthur and we need to go from there. We design the level, we get the information, and we get the job done." There was silent agreement between the three of them and they got back to work. Eames could not shake the feeling that something was going to go oh so wrong with this job. He guessed it had something to do with Arthur himself and less about what could be going on in his head. The forger could not shake this obsession of wanting to know everything he could about this kid. He was fascinating in some way that Eames could not place. That was why, despite what the Cobbs both told him, Eames went out and watched Arthur as often as he could. In the back of his mind the words 'creepy' and 'weird' popped up but he shushed them by saying that he needed to get this kid to trust him and there was no way of doing that without finding out everything about him that he could.

That was one of the reasons that he felt a little nervous when he sat with Mal as they watched Arthur talk with someone quietly. Her eyes were locked on the mark like a predator and it was almost eerie to watch her watch Arthur like that. Eames took a drink of his whiskey and looked at the details. Arthur rarely broke eye contact with someone if they were discussing business but rarely made it with those around him. His clothes were always perfectly pressed to the point that the forger was beginning to think that he had some sort of personal tailor. He accepted cash only and, as far as Eames could tell, had a respectable bank account but more than likely had others that no one knew about. He moved in a way that made Eames think that he could have been trained to fight in some way and maybe even had a military background. He had his front door double locked at all times. He caught the attention of men and women but did not seem to notice, or care, either way. He seemed both memorable in every sense of the word but at the same time easily forgotten.

"What do you think?" Mal asked and Eames realized he was staring a bit too intently.

"I think we might have a good handle on him," Eames replied. "Getting him to a place where we could get the job done is going to be difficult. This kid knows that he sometimes pisses people off and makes sure he never has his back exposed. We're going to have to either break into his apartment or take him by force."

"Do you think either of those will work?" she asked but he was not sure. This was not the way he normally did things. Usually they would find some place where they could make the mark think that they had just dozed off. No matter what they did afterward Arthur was going to know someone had done something to him. How he would react to that they really had no idea. "That isn't how I like to do things."

"I agree. It seems a little too much even for what we do but there isn't any other option. That kid is going to know one way or another and there isn't anything we can do to prevent that," Eames said and he tilted his head to the side. Then something happened that was completely new. Then something happened that he had never expected and never thought would happen. Then Arthur looked up from the conversation he had just finished with a client and looked directly into Eames' eyes. There was a sense of panic that set into his chest like nothing he had felt before. He knew, the kid knew, that he was being watched. His brown eyes were blank as they stared across the room and the forger could barely hear Mal say something, he hardly felt her take his arm and pull him away, and he was not even aware they were outside until the cool air hit his skin.

"He looked right at you," she said and she pulled him along like he was some sort of child. "He looked right at you as if he knew who you were."

"Maybe he caught on," Eames said though he knew there was no need to put a 'maybe' before it. Arthur knew he was being followed.

"We need to do the job as soon as possible before he makes a run for it," Mal said and they got into the car. Arthur making a run for it was not something he saw the kid doing. He was not fearless by any stretch of the word, Eames had seen that in the altercation he saw with the bodyguards of one of his clients, but he was confident and strong. If he thought someone was gunning for him this was not the kind of person to walk away and the forger was not sure if that was a good thing.

They decided to do the job the following night but not before Mal talked to the general one last time. Now she was angry that information was being withheld from them.

"I am going into that kid's head and I have to know what to look for. At this point I'm not going to ask or dance around the question; if you want the job done you have to tell me, right now, what I'm looking for or you can find someone else to do the job for you," she said and Cobb looked up from his designs. The look on his face suggested that this was not a good state to have Mal in and Eames seemed to agree. Her shoulders were too tense and she was staring daggers into a screen that could not see the look.

"Fine," the voice of their employer said. "Two months ago suspected terrorists were being moved from one location to another. That is not entirely the truth though. The people we were moving resisted arrest and we had to gun them down. One of the soldiers reported that they were not resisting enough to merit that type of violence and if that gets out to the public we would be in trouble to say the least. That was when we got wind that someone was walking by that night and saw the entire thing or might have seen it. We managed to trace it down to this Arthur boy but we have no way of knowing if he saw what happened. We cannot risk a lie and we cannot fix the problem if we don't know one way or another. We just want to know if he saw anything so we can work something out with him so this doesn't get out. Does that cover all of the information that you need?" The general sounded annoyed but this was a lot bigger than Eames thought it was. Those people had had families and there was no telling what they could do if they found out what the military had done.

"That covers it. We will have your information by dawn the day after tomorrow," Mal said and she closed the laptop.

"So how are we going to get this kid?" Cobb asked.

"I could snatch him up if you like but it might not be pretty," Eames said and he really wished that was not the case.

"We don't have a choice. Bring him here tomorrow night and we'll get the job done," Mal said. They all nodded and went back to the apartment. The Cobbs went to bed but Eames nursed a bottle of whiskey as he looked over the file. Aside from the people he did business with Arthur came up completely clean. Never before had he had a conflict of interestt but the way the general referred to 'fixing' the problem made him nervous. What the military thought of as 'fixing' a problem and what it meant to the rest of the world were two different things. He had seen people take things a step too far when he was in the service not that long ago. In the back of his mind the forger almost hoped this kid knew nothing.

They spent the rest of the day preparing the apartment for the job. They set aside some chairs and a mat on the floor with the PASIV in the middle. Mal adjusted the dosages and made sure everything was ready before she handed Eames a rag and chloroform. The forger hated the stuff, it tended to make people more than a little loopy afterward, but anything else needed a needle or water to dissolve in. Considering how he was planning on picking up the boy neither option would work. Arthur would not let water Eames had touched anywhere near him and a needle was too risky as far as putting an eye out or getting stabbed himself. The sun had just gone down when the forger pulled up in front of Arthur's apartment. The kid knew someone was coming so Eames just leaned against his car and looked up until he saw the curtain move. Then he moved off to the side of the building and blended into the shadows. The doors to the apartment opened and Arthur took a step out. Those dark eyes looked around because they both were aware the other was there.

"I know you're out there and I know you've been following me," Arthur said. "I have to say I'm impressed that you managed to keep yourself hidden so I couldn't tail you." The forger did not move and was trying to find a way to get this kid alone when a group of people walked by. Arthur was smart; there was no way he was going to try and fight in the open with a gun. Instead, the kid shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the sidewalk toward Eames. He was thankful that the shadows kept him hidden so perfectly because Arthur walked right by him without even seeing him. "You won't come out unless we have some privacy," he said and Arthur walked down a nearby ally. Eames emerged from the shadows and walked out blocking the only escape route. The mark, Arthur, stared him down all of ten feet away.

"So you noticed me," Eames said. "I must be getting sloppy if you managed to spot me."

"You were trying to be discreet but you're really terrible at it. You stare at the person you're following enough and they'll eventually notice you," Arthur replied. "Why are you following me?"

"Oh no darling, I'm sorry, you asking the questions is just not how this works," the forger said and he heaved a dramatic sigh. "I'd ask if you'd come quietly but you won't."

"Good to know that quality is something that even an amateur can see," the kid replied and for some reason that hit a nerve. A kid, a baby, who could barely drink legally was calling him an amateur and that was not something he could let stand. So instead of dignifying the kid with some sort of response Eames rushed and threw a punch which Arthur easily dodged. Arthur retorted and landed a hard punch to the forger's ribs which hurt a lot more than he thought it would; their mark was strong. Instead of letting it bother him Eames followed with a series of face strikes most of which connected. He heard Arthur's teeth clash together and the kid took a step back. He rubbed his jaw and wiped away the bit of blood from his nose. Then something happened that Eames was not expecting; Arthur grinned at him. The kid then proceeded to rush forward with speed that took the forger completely by surprise, deflected a punch and smashed his fists into Eames' cheekbone hard enough to make his head snap painfully back. Arthur wasted no time before he landed a sharp strike right into Eames' stomach enough to knock the wind out of him.

Instead of giving Arthur a chance to counter Eames tackled the kid to the ground and cracked him across the temple hard enough to draw blood. Arthur kicked him off and now blood ran freely from a deep cut on his head. The kid rushed forward and slammed his fist into Eames' shoulder hard enough to make him stagger and then kicked the forger against the brick of the alley. Arthur came at him with the intensity of someone fighting for his life and Eames only managed to take another crack across the jaw before he grabbed Arthur by the shirt and slammed him against the brick hard enough that he knocked the wind out of the kid. Arthur was still dazed when Eames put him in a tight headlock and pressed the rag to his mouth. The kid elbowed the forger in the ribs hard but Eames held on until the mark, Arthur, fell still. He bound Arthur's hands and threw the kid over his shoulder.

Eames was thankful that Arthur was still out cold when he got back to the apartment. When he opened the door both of the Cobbs looked like their eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

"What the hell happened?" Mal asked as Cobb took Arthur from Eames.

"Our friend here wouldn't come easily," Eames replied frankly and that seemed to be explanation enough for her.

"We need to do this now," Cobb said and his wife nodded. The pounding pain in his nose was enough to distract Eames from the sting of the needle as it went into a vein. Mal pushed the button and he felt the chemicals surge through his body. As the world began to fade Eames looked down at the person whose mind they were about to invade. Arthur was much more dangerous than he thought and the forger took note that he would be wise to never underestimate this kid again.


	4. Part Four

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part Four**

Eames blinked and took in his surroundings. He was standing in this city that Cobb had built and Arthur's projections moved throughout the streets. A few glanced his way but they seemed like they were not agitated by his presence; not at the moment anyway. He was the dreamer and the one who made things comfortable for Arthur. For a long time Eames had studied one of Arthur's clients that he worked for on a regular basis. He would forge said client and introduce Mal as a person of interest. It was supposed to be smooth sailing from there. Cobb was there as backup just in case something happened and the dream needed to be changed. The forger shoved his hands in his pockets and walked along the road until he found Mal and Cobb sitting on a park bench outside of Arthur apartment.

"So let's get going on this. We all know the plan," Mal said. Eames made a mental note that he had to keep himself covered at all costs. He was the dreamer and the world could collapse if something happened to him. Instead they all stood up and walked into the building next to the replica of Arthur's. Eames sat down in front of some mirrors and adjusted his clothing to match that of the bartender he had seen Arthur work for. After they were all set the three of them went to the bar that was really much closer than it seemed but looped in such a way that it seemed much further away. Eames nodded and opened up the phone, dialed Arthur's number and waited for the young man to answer.

"Jason, how can I help you?" Arthur answered with no form of greeting. Not the least bit surprising.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could come down here. I have something I need you to look into," Eames said in the bartender's voice.

"I got all the information you wanted," Arthur said.

"Yes, but there is something I forgot to tell you to look into. Could you come down?" he asked and waited. There was a backup plan but it was one that involved violence.

"Fine. It's before four so I'm assuming you're going to let me in," the kid said and Eames gave the Cobbs a thumbs up.

"Knock twice and I'll let you in," Eames said and Arthur hung up the phone without a word. Outside he could not hear the shuffle of projections that were catching up quite yet but there was no telling when that was going to happen. Cobb retreated to a back room and Mal stood at the back of the bar hidden practically by shadows. There were two knocks on the door and Eames opened it to let Arthur in. He was dressed a little more casually than usual, dress shirt with dark pants and blazer, and he looked like he was a little rough around the edges. "Arthur, come on in," Eames said and he walked through the doors. The first thing he did all of three steps in was lock eyes with Mal.

"Who is she?" he demanded and he sounded angry. They were expecting that and Eames hoped that it would not be too much that he was willing to walk away.

"She's a friend of mine, Lisa, and she's actually the one who wants you to find something," Eames said and Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"I like to do my own research on my clients before I meet them," the kid said and Mal took a step forward.

"Jason knew that you trusted him and he trusts me, isn't that enough?" she said but Arthur did not move forward.

"What do you need me to find? Then I'll decide if I want to work for you," he said. Mal smiled and walked forward. She placed a piece of paper on the table and Arthur looked at it. "This is something to do with the military."

"Yes, my husband works for them, and he has not come home in a while. I was wondering if you knew any of the secrets within the ranks? Maybe somewhere safe that I could look to find them?" Mal asked. The key with extraction was using the right words to trick the mind into hiding its secrets. Safe was usually the best way to go about it.

"I don't get involved with military business," Arthur said and he pushed the paper away. "Too many ways it could go wrong."

"Could you point me in the right direction of someone who could find my information?" she asked and he stared at her.

"I have names but none of them will do this either. None of them have the resources I do," Arthur said. "What happened to the documents I gave you, Jason?"

"I put them in my safe along with anything else you gave me," Eames replied. "Your secrets are safe in there."

"That they are," Arthur said in a low voice and that was the key. Cobb was in the back no doubt picking the lock to the key and gathering the information that they needed. "Why do you keep mentioning my secrets?" Eames could feel the dream shift and he just knew the eyes of the projections were on this bar. The kid creased his eyebrows and seemed to be deep in thought. "My apartment, I was in my apartment, but how did I get there?" Eames made eye contact with Mal and she began to ease into the back to gather information with her husband. "Something isn't right."

"What are you talking about, Arthur?" Eames asked and Arthur stared at him.

"You don't know my real name," he said and there was a pounding on the door as the projections began to swarm. Eames pulled out his gun and managed to knock Arthur to the ground before he even had the chance to react. The forger faded into his own appearance and pulled their mark into the room where Mal and Cobb were looking through a pile of papers.

"He knows more about the military than we thought," she said. "We have more information than we expected to look through."

"I'll hold them off, get them away from you two, and we'll go from there. When you get the information wake yourselves up and give me the musical kick," Eames said and the Cobbs nodded. He kicked the back door open and took off through the maze. The projections followed, he was the dreamer and he was the one that they felt the most, and that gave Cobb and Mal more time to find the information. After that they would wake themselves up and give him the musical kick so he could avoid getting torn apart. As Eames ducked through the maze he was surprised at how organized Arthur's projections were for someone who was not trained. He was adapting at an impressive rate as if his instincts were enough that he was organized. With a little training his mind would be nothing short of sealed tight and Eames was thankful that they had managed to get this job done before Arthur was trained. The forger ducked into a building and closed the door tightly behind him. It was a small house and he could see someone sitting in the middle of the room. He turned around and Eames was surprised to find Arthur watching him carefully.

"I tracked you here after I woke up," Arthur said and then he shook his head. "Not that I'm awake now that is."

"You're right," Eames said and he took a few steps closer his hand on his gun. The dream would collapse if he died and there was still no musical kick. "So you tracked me here? That's pretty impressive for a baby."

"I have a high learning curve," he replied and he tilted his head to the side. "What are you looking for? I'm sure you've already found it but I'm curious who turned on me."

"The military hired us," the forger replied honestly. Mal and Cobb more than likely had what they needed by now and the kid was not going to remember this anyway.

"They killed those people in cold blood," Arthur said. "I saw it and confirmed it later with some research. They've been following me for a while but I have enough contacts that I can't just vanish without someone noticing."

"Looks like they're going to work something out once we report that you know," Eames said and something in his stomach twisted when Arthur smiled sadly.

"Oh they'll work something out I'm sure. You seem like a halfway intelligent man, do you really think they're going to let me live?" he asked and the sound of music began to fill the room. Eames cocked his gun, his finger on the trigger, but Arthur just stared at him. "What's your name?"

"Eames," the forger replied without thinking twice.

"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Eames," Arthur replied and before Eames could react the kid pulled out a gun and shot him right between the eyes.

Eames opened his eyes and blinked as he stared at the ceiling of the apartment. He sat up and looked around. Mal and Cobb were staring at him with rather intense expressions. He looked down at Arthur who lay completely still, a line still in his arm. The forger had no idea why he had told Arthur, the mark, exactly what they were doing. It had not seemed like he needed to lie because combined with the dream and the chloroform they would be lucky if the kid remembered his name when he woke up.

"Did you get it?" he asked despite having a good idea that Arthur had not been lying to him in the dream.

"Yes," Mal replied. "He saw everything that night so we need to get him back to his apartment and give the information to the general. Then we should vanish for a while."

"What happened out there?" Cobb asked. "Something felt like it shifted and when we turned around Arthur was gone."

"When he woke up he used his projections to track me down. He was the one that woke me up," Eames replied. "It's been a long time since I saw someone organize their projections that fast. With some training that kid's mind could be a fortress."

"His research is spot on too," Mal said. "He's pretty impressive for someone so young."

"I'll take him home," Eames said after a beat of silence. The Cobbs nodded and they began to pack up the PASIV. The forger removed the line from Arthur's arm and pulled him to his feet. Eames felt his ribs scream in pain. He had forgotten the beating he had received from someone so small. He eased Arthur into the front seat of the car and started down the road. Over and over all the forger could see in his head was that smile and how defeated Arthur had looked. "They won't just kill him. That won't fix a problem, it'll just create more." Eames was not sure who he was trying to convince.

It was late when he finally got back to the apartment building and he was thankful that no one was around. Arthur had a key and Eames carried the kid up to his apartment. When the forger opened the door he cocked an eyebrow at how simple it all was. There was hardly any furniture save what could be considered the 'essentials.' He carried Arthur into the bedroom and eased the kid onto the bed. When Arthur groaned Eames froze and wondered if he was going to have to knock him out again. Arthur blinked a few times and looked up at Eames.

"What did you do to me?" he asked and his voice sounded harsh. The forger really did not want to knock this kid out again but he could not risk Arthur following him either.

"Don't worry about it, darling; you just go back to sleep," Eames replied and he backhanded Arthur hard enough that he went completely still.


	5. Part Five

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part Five**

It was not until Eames was on his way back to the apartment that he realized just how much damage Arthur had done during their brawl. The kid was nothing short of deadly with his instincts, abilities and brains. He was the type of person that he hoped he would not run into again because there was no doubt in his mind that Arthur was the type to tie up any loose ends. Still the forger his cheek where a significant bump was forming and somewhere in the back of his head Eames wanted another round with the kid for his pride if nothing else. No one had hurt him like that in years and his ego wanted payback for the bruise he was going to be sporting for a while.

When Eames pulled up to the apartment he was surprised to see that the Cobbs were still there. He had expected to see the lights off and the car gone and had only gone back to double check. He parked the car and walked up the stairs. When he walked in Cobb was gathering the last of their things and looked up when he entered.

"Did you get him back okay?" the architect asked.

"I had to knock him out again but he's sleeping like the baby he is right now," Eames replied but narrowed his eyes when he saw Mal at her desk looking at the computer with an intensity that he had not seen in her before. "What's going on?"

"The general isn't answering my calls," she said. "It's late though so maybe he's just asleep. I'll call him in the morning." Mal closed the laptop and the three of them gathered the last of their things. She wiped down the entire apartment and made sure not to miss a spot. She used bleach on the blood that Eames and Arthur had left on the floor and scrubbed each surface clean. When they exited the room she closed the door with the rag and they went to their cars. The drive back was quiet because there was not that satisfaction that he usually got after a job. For some reason this one felt so different. He tried to brush it off as his fascination with Arthur and the fact that he had talked to the kid directly in the dream. Very rarely did he have a conversation with a mark about what exactly they were doing, why they were in their head, and for some reason it hit him a lot harder. And even after such an exhausting ordeal Eames lay in bed for hours unable to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was Arthur's sad smile and the moment when he had said _do you really think they're going to let me live?_

When the sun finally came up Eames did not feel rested at all. The entire situation had him drained and all he wanted to do now was go home with his new earnings and drink this feeling of _guilt_ away. The forger ran his fingers through his hair and walked outside to find the Cobbs looking over Mal's computer. They had worked together for almost two months and none of them seemed to care too much that they were in their night clothes though Eames did make sure that he wore pants at all times.

"What are we staring at, darlings?" Eames asked through a yawn and neither of them seemed to mind when he sat down on the other side of Mal.

"Just trying to get in touch with the general," she replied before the screen flicked on. They had not seen the general in person since they had started the job but this time his camera turned on and they were looking at their employer. He was an older man, in his sixties, wearing a military uniform adorned with many metals. There was a spot for a name tag that he had removed for this conversation and Eames was thankful that their camera was still off.

"I'm assuming this conversation means that you have found my information," the general said.

"That is correct, sir," Mal replied. "It looks like Arthur saw everything and even did some research on the side to make sure it wasn't a fluke."

"Did he now," the general said and something in his face changed. Eames knew that look, he had seen it many times before, and it made his stomach twist into a knot. "Your money has been wired to your accounts. Pleasure doing business with you."

"What are you going to do to him?" Eames asked suddenly and ignored the look he got from Mal.

"I'm afraid that is none of your concern. I am going to deal with the issue and "make sure this information never gets out. I'd suggest you forget it as well," the general replied with a smirk and the line went dead.

"I think we were just threatened," Cobb said and he sounded nervous.

"I think we just signed Arthur's death certificate," Eames said and he looked at the two of them. "I can live with a lot on my conscience but living with knowing that I helped get that kid killed? I don't think so."

"He did seem like a nice enough guy," Mal said thoughtfully. "Smart, thorough, great instincts and someone who could do well in this world."

"The general said to stay away and I think we should do just that," Cobb said but Mal placed her hand on his, squeezing it.

"Can you really live with knowing he's dead because of us?" she asked and Cobb seemed to think about it for only a second before he nodded.

"Let's go," he said and they all raced into their rooms. Eames threw on some clothes and gathered all of his things as fast as he could. He was not entirely keen on using a gun in the real world but he strapped on his belt holster, checked the chamber of his pistol, doubled checked the safety and slid it into place. When he checked on the Cobbs he saw Cobb holstering his own pistol and Mal hiding a small gun in her purse. They nodded and walked quickly out of the hotel as Eames pulled out his phone. He dialed Arthur's personal line and cursed loudly when it went to voice mail. He tried the number that Arthur used for business and this time it went straight to voice mail. They parked five blocks away from the apartment building. There was no sign of anyone sneaking in for a hit and the people going in and out of the building did not act like anything was wrong.

"I'm going up and you two should stay here. If I'm not back in ten minutes you should add a new definition to the word 'vanish,' sound good?" Eames said and Mal stared at him for a beat before she nodded. She and Cobb moved back toward their car and out of sight. The forger stood up a little taller and walked toward the building. By sheer luck someone was walking out when he got to the door and he was able to just slip in. He made sure to take the stairs and by the time he got to the third floor Eames felt the need to take his pistol out. He got to Arthur's door and was about to knock when he realized the door was open. The forger walked in carefully and took his gun out. The apartment had been completely torn apart like someone was desperately looking for something. He turned a corner and saw a body on the ground and it looked like there was blood on the ground. A lump formed in Eames' throat and he took a step forward until there was the sound of a gun cocking into place and a barrel to the back of his head.

"Nice to see you again, _darling_," Arthur said from behind him and the kid sounded nothing short of furious. "Give me one good reason not to blow you away right now."

"This guy came and tried to get you to leave, didn't he?" Eames asked and he held out his gun as a peace offering. The pistol was snatched from his hand and he turned slowly to see that Arthur looked even worse. There was a deep gash on the side of his head that was bleeding freely and his knuckles were torn to shreds.

"I get into a fight with you, I lose several hours of my life and have vague memories of a dream involving you, I wake up at home to you bashing my skull open and the next thing I know this asshole is trying to say that someone needs to 'have a chat with me' before pulling out a gun. It sounds like you're the one I should be blowing away right now," Arthur snapped but he kept his finger off of the trigger.

"The military hired me and my associates to extract whether or not you had witnessed that incident involving the terrorist suspects who were gunned down. We delivered the information this morning and then realized that this guy's method of 'dealing with a problem' was going to be to kill you. So we, I, came up here to warn you," Eames explained.

"So you basically threw me to the dogs and then felt guilty about it after you got paid," Arthur said.

"When you put it that way we sound like a bunch of jerks," Eames said and he managed a smile which Arthur did not return. "Look, I know it sounds bad and you have every reason not to trust me but don't you think it makes sense to take a chance on someone who might kill you than on someone you know will? You're all banged up from our scrap last night and it looks like that gentleman got a piece of you as well; you're really in no condition to try and fight back alone." Arthur stared at him with a completely blank expression and the forger could practically see the wheels turning in the kid's head. After a moment Arthur lowered his gun slowly.

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you right now but it looks like I really don't have a choice," he said.

"Good move and my name is Eames," Eames replied and he pulled out his phone. Arthur narrowed his eyes and slid the gun into a belt holster as he began to look for a cloth to put to his head.

"I'm guessing he didn't blow you away," Mal said.

"No, not yet, but I think we should split up. You have a lot more to lose than I do and I don't want you two in this mess," Eames said.

"We're in this mess already," she replied but there was a brief pause. "I have a feeling you're not going to let me help anyway so just call as soon as you need me."

"Will do," Eames said and he hung up. Arthur was standing near the window and looking out the window his eyes narrowed. "What's up, darling?"

"Three people are walking toward the building and they look armed," Arthur replied. "And don't call me that."

"Whatever you say, kid," the forger said and that earned him a dark glare. Eames ignored it and took Arthur by the arm. "We're leaving."

"You don't need to lead me around like I don't know what I'm doing," Arthur said and he tore his arm free. "There is a set of stairs that lead to the roof. The next building over is close enough to jump and then we take that fire escape down the back alley. It's out of sight and we should be able to make it a few blocks without being seen." The kid started toward the stairs and Eames stared.

"Do I want to know why you have all of this mapped out?" he asked and Arthur scoffed.

"I dig up people's dirty work for a living so I've made my share of enemies," he replied and the two of them pushed the door open. Eames was surprised when everything the kid said was completely true and they made it to the road without being shot at. They moved through the shadows and the more Eames watched this kid the more he was convinced that Arthur had more training than he let on. The forger looked around a corner and saw the general and two armed men making their way toward them.

"Time to go for a run," Eames said as the first shot rang out.


	6. Part Six

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part Six**

Eames wanted to say that he was surprised the military would fire on someone in broad daylight but these were the same people who had gunned down unarmed men for what might have been no reason at all. He pushed his way through the back alleys with Arthur right behind but the extent of their fight and what had happened between him and the gunman seemed to be taking its toll on the kid. What started out as someone keeping up with him came back to someone who stumbled a few times and was a few feet behind him. The forger was about to say something when he turned a corner and someone pistol whipped him down to the ground. Eames tried to blink away the spots that danced in front his eyes as another soldier threw Arthur into the wall and knocked him to the ground. The world around Eames was beginning to fade and a few feet away he could see Arthur going unconscious. Eames closed his eyes and everything went dark.

The forger blinked a few times as the world came back into focus. His head was killing him and he was sure that he was going to have a permanent dent in his head. Eames sat up slowly and looked around. He was in a darkened room, a warehouse he guessed, with the two soldiers watching him carefully. They had guns and he was no longer armed so running was out of the question. He heard someone stir behind him and he saw Arthur sit up, a hand to his head.

"Looks like we're not as good at running as we thought," Eames said and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Very funny, Mr. Eames," the kid groaned. He was about to make a comment when the general walked up to them slowly. He was in civilian attire but he was obviously armed as well. Eames could tell by the way that he walked that he had taken lives and had not batted an eye. That did not bode well for either of them.

"I must say I was surprised to see you with him," the general said to Eames. "I was also not so surprised that I couldn't find out who you are."

"Then I'm doing my job correctly," Eames replied.

"I see. Does your job include trying to get involved with matters that no longer concern you?" he asked.

"It concerned me the minute you decided that 'dealing with a problem' meant putting a bullet through a kid's eyes," the forger replied in a dark voice. The general grinned down at him but there was nothing good behind that smile. The man moved and kicked Eames in the ribs hard; it was enough to take the wind out of him and he coughed violently. As he winced he saw one of the soldiers holding Arthur back; the kid had eyes like a murderer in that moment.

"That's enough," Arthur said loudly and everyone looked at him. "This is unnecessary and you know it. You have me and I'm the problem. Let the man go and you can do with me as you wish."

"Oh Arthur, you're so naïve," the general said as he walked forward. Eames was trying to regain his breath as the general cracked Arthur across the temple hard enough that the kid looked stunned. "You were a valuable member of this army but that doesn't make you any less cannon fodder. It's going to be a shame when the police find your body; sometimes muggings just go wrong." The general pulled out a switchblade and Eames really did not want to witness this murder. Arthur seemed too dazed to really see what was happening or he had accepted that he was going to die.

"You would be wise to lower your weapons," a familiar voice laced with a French accent said. Eames turned and saw Mal and Cobb standing over the second solider who was still on the ground. The general turned around slowly and narrowed his eyes.

"You all seem to have grown a conscience overnight considering you drugged and broke into the mind of the person you seem so hellbent on protecting," he said.

"What we do and why we do it is none of your business," Mal replied. "Drop the knife, the gun and Arthur before I take out some kneecaps."

"You'd best do what she says," Cobb said. "She is a woman of her word." The general placed the knife and his gun on the ground and nodded for the remaining soldier to do the same. The Cobbs walked forward and Cobb handed his gun to Mal. He bound the hands of the general and the soldier before he removed two needles from his pocket. He pulled the plastic tip off and jabbed them both into the necks of the two men. "That should wipe their memories of the last few hours and give us some time to get away." Cobb put a hand out and helped Eames to his feet. Mal knelt in front of Arthur who seemed to be having trouble seeing straight.

"Arthur." Her voice was soft and he looked at her. He blinked a few times as if he was trying to clear his vision. "You're safe." That seemed to be all the incentive Arthur needed and he fell forward into her arms. Mal held him for a moment before Eames and Cobb helped the kid to his feet. Mal dumped bleach on the ground, cleaned the blood from the weapons and locked the door behind them. She made sure they left no trace. They loaded the unconscious Arthur into the backseat and Mal sat with him, his head in her lap. The wounds on his head needed stitches but there was nowhere they could take him. Eames watched her keep a cloth to the wounds as Cobb gathered their belongings from the hotel. Eames climbed into his car and they drove for a few solid hours before they pulled up to a dirty old motel. Cobb rented two rooms and Eames eased Arthur onto one of the beds. Mal stitched his head up and cleaned out the wounds on his knuckles. "He's probably going to sleep for a few hours," she said. "Can you watch him?"

"Yeah, I got him. You two need sleep too," Eames replied. She looked down at Arthur and touched his cheek.

"I'll have someone start erasing him from files. Even if he decides to go on his own he still needs to vanish completely," she said.

"He needs to rest so don't let him run off," Cobb said.

"I'm not an idiot," Eames said and he waved them off. "Go before I kick both of you out." Cobb rolled his eyes and Mal smiled. The two of them left the room and he locked it twice behind them. The forger walked over and watched the kid beneath him sleep. This was the person he had just risked his life for, the person that he now had several broken ribs for, and he did not know anything about him. Eames did not consider himself a selfish person by any stretch of the word but he rarely stuck his neck out for someone else. Now he had risked his life for a complete stranger and it was odd to think that this was actually happening. It was not long after the Cobbs had left that Arthur stirred and looked up at Eames.

"I really hope I'm not dead and somehow took you down with me, Mr. Eames," the kid grumbled and it made the forger smile.

"Ah, no, darling, you're not dead, just a little beaten up," Eames replied and he sat on the other bed. "So you were in the service?"

"Don't call me that. And yes, joined as soon as I turned eighteen but I didn't last more than a year out in Iraq," Arthur replied. "I came back and went back to college."

"Harvard, right?" Eames asked and the kid grinned.

"No, actually, most of my information that is passed around is fake. I actually went to Brown and graduated with a degree in two years," Arthur replied.

"Two years? How did you manage to do that? I don't know much about the American school system but it seems like it should have taken four," Eames said. "And is any of the information floating around true?"

"I graduated high school a year early," the kid said. "And my name is Arthur; that is about the only thing that is true." Arthur paused and he stared at Eames. "You came into my dreams to get my secrets. I've heard of that before, it's called extraction, right?"

"You got it," Eames replied. "And you seem like a natural at it to be honest. Do you remember anything about the dream?"

"Bits and pieces," Arthur said and he creased his eyebrows as if he was deep in thought. "I need to disappear and fast."

"We have someone working on that," the forger said and the kid actually rolled his eyes.

"If this is the same person you hired to get information on me I should probably do it myself," Arthur said and he sat up slowly. "Can I stay here for a few days? I just need to get my head on straight."

"That's up to the one's paying for the room but I don't see why not," Eames said. "I need to get some sleep, can I trust you to not blow my brains out?"

"I'm not armed and neither are you. I'm assuming that there isn't a gun anywhere in this room. I'm sure you're in better shape than I am right now anyway so I don't think you should be worried," Arthur replied and he lay back down.

"I think you're a lot more dangerous than you let on," the forger said as he lay down. The kid did not say a word and for some reason Eames fell asleep easily. He had seen the look in Arthur's eyes, he knew this kid was capable of extreme violence, but for some reason he did not think he would turn that violence on him. Not at the moment anyway. For some reason he was very sure of this, one military man to another.

Arthur seemed more interested and focused the next day. He asked for a laptop and spent the next few hours typing away, transferring money and deleting his records, erasing his previous identity as Arthur completely. He erased himself with such ease that it was unnerving to watch and Eames exchanged a glance with Mal. Cobb went out and bought the kid some very basic clothing. The clothes looked cheap even compared to the bloodstained suit he was wearing, and he vanished into the bathroom. Mal sat at the desk and began to search for information about the general. It seemed he was still missing and Eames could not hide his grin. He was okay with that bastard being gone as long as possible.

"What's it like?" Arthur asked and all three of them looked up. He was leaning against the doorway to the bathroom, his arms crossed in front his chest, watching them carefully. "What is it like in the dreams? I've heard rumors but I don't know how true they are." Eames watched Mal and Cobb very carefully. This was a crucial moment; they knew as much as he did how rarely someone went into the dreams and woke up without wanting to go back again. It was like a drug, something that got under the skin that never went away. As much as the forger wanted to think that someday he could give all of this up he knew better than to think that. Just like everyone else in the business he was hooked to the rush of it all, the creation, the challenge, all of it. In that moment they could tell him 'no,' they could tell him that they could not hook him up and show him that world, they could refuse to open that door and let this kid walk away none the wiser. They could let him walk away and vanish into the world like the ghost he had become..

"Would you like to see?" Mal asked and Eames made no attempt to hide the little smile that formed on his lips. Arthur was a natural, he knew that as much as Mal and Cobb did, and now they had opened the door to endless possibilities to someone that they had nearly gotten killed less than twenty-four hours ago.

"Yes, I would," Arthur replied and Eames knew that there was no going back now.


	7. Part Seven

**Beautiful Stranger**

**Part Seven**

They were all proven right when Arthur turned out to be a natural at all of this. He had his own creative spin to things and a preference for paradoxes. Cobb built them a basic maze and then they dove into Mal's subconscious and Arthur did the work. Mal was smiling, the same sort of look Eames had seen on the faces of the people that took him under the first time. That mix of pride and fear of what they had just done, what doors they had opened and how it was like handing someone a needle of the most potent drug ever. Arthur seemed to understand projections and did nothing to intimidate Mal's which was a smart move on his part. Eames had seen the woman's mind at its worst in their practice runs and he did not think getting stabbed or torn apart was the best way to introduce someone to this world.

They woke up five minutes later and Arthur blinked back the haze. Cobb began to take care of the PASIV but the kid looked a little confused.

"I don't remember much," he said.

"That's common," Mal replied. "You need practice to remember all of the details. It takes time to become completely aware of the dreams."

"I hate to break this up but we should probably get moving. Arthur dear is very much a wanted man right now, probably even more so than myself and that's saying something, so sticking in one place is probably not the best idea," Eames said and he pointedly ignored the glare Arthur shot him.

"You're right," Cobb said but he tilted his head at the kid. "In this business there's a need for point men, the ones who do the research and find out everything they can about the mark, the job and the risks that go along with it. The first one in and the first one out."

"You're saying I would be perfect at that job," Arthur said and he studied the Cobbs for what felt like a long time. "You talked about militarizing my subconscious. How about I mull that over while you teach me how to do that? I would rather not be the mark of an extraction again."

"We have another job lined up," Cobb said trailing off and he exchanged a glance with his wife.

"I can do it," Eames said and he shrugged. They all looked at him with strange expressions. "What? I freelance and take the jobs I want when I want. I have time to kill anyway. If the kid trusts me with his noggin that is."

"Don't call me that," Arthur said without a hint of hesitation but he seemed to think on this for a moment before he shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I could take you if you decided to turn on me."

"That sounds like a challenge, darling." Eames grinned and there was a twitch at the corner of Arthur's mouth.

"Don't call me that either," he said and he turned to the Cobbs. "Is it all right if I let you know one way or another? If you want me as a point that is."

"Of course," Mal said with a smile and she placed a hand on his cheek. "Watch those stitches in your head and let me know if you need anything. We're the reason you're hurt so I want to make sure you're okay." Arthur nodded and they began to gather their things. Cobb managed to pull another PASIV out of nowhere and left it in the hotel room. "We can take a taxi to the airport so the rental is yours. It's under a fake name but you might want to turn it in anyway."

"Yes, ma'am," Eames replied and Cobb extended a hand.

"Excellent work, Eames, and it was nice to meet you. I think we could work together again." Eames took his hand and they shook firmly. It was odd that he trusted these people but for some reason the Cobbs seemed like stand up criminals in a world severely lacking those with a moral compass. Mal kissed him on the cheek and smiled. They both turned and left the room, the door closing behind them. For what felt like a long time he sat in silence with someone who could become his protégé

.

"I think it's time for us to get moving, Mr. Eames. Personally, I don't want to go to prison," Arthur said and Eames grinned at him.

"We're far too pretty for prison anyway," he said and the kid ignored him. They gathered their things. They drove the rental car to the next airport and dropped it off. Arthur bought a car with cash and they started driving across the country. Eames wanted to leave it entirely but decided it would be best to wait until the military was no longer looking for his present company. Instead they went from motel to motel and he worked at training Arthur to fight back. He was surprised to find that the learning curve Arthur spoke of was indeed as fast as he said. He guessed the kid probably pushed the border of genius but did an excellent job of not being too condescending. The more they worked together the more Eames saw the personality of this blank slate come out. Arthur had an excellent sense of humor and would retort his sarcasm with quick efficiency.

After traveling and working together for nearly a month the forger was surprised by how close he felt to this kid. The time they spent in the dreams made it seem like they had known each other for much longer than they really had and he was almost disappointed when he realized that Arthur was almost completely trained. That meant the kid was going to go off on his own and let Cobb and Mal know if he was going to join the business one way or another. Having someone to talk to and exchange clever banter with all the time was a nice change of pace considering he was usually one to leave his teams and not see anyone for weeks or months at a time. They were lying in another motel room with an empty twelve pack between them and passing a bottle of whiskey back and forth. Eames was not entirely surprised by how well Arthur could hold his liquor.

"Your brain is more or less a fortress," Eames said and he handed the bottle to Arthur.

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment," he replied and took another swig of the booze. "I guess that means I need to make up my mind."

"Oh, don't lie to me, darling, you made a decision weeks ago," the forger replied and he looked across the room at Arthur who was staring at him. "Reading people is one of my specialties, did you really think I wouldn't notice?"

"Don't call me that," Arthur retorted easily and tossed the bottle over to Eames. "But yes, you're right, I did make up my mind but I didn't want to go out into the business without a trained subconscious."

"Don't lie, love, just admit you enjoy my company," Eames said and he took another drink of the whiskey. He was not drunk, not really, and Arthur was not as well, but there was still that slight slur to his speech. He noticed it in himself and Arthur as well but the kid still caught the bottle and took another drink.

"Don't call me that," he said and he set the bottle aside. Arthur sat up and smoothed out his suit. One of the first things he had insisted that they stop for were 'some real clothes' and he had complained loudly when Eames refused to take his fashion sense to heart. It was in that moment that the forger realized that no one with that face and that fashion sense could possibly be straight. That was intriguing to him if nothing else but he had not pushed the matter, though now he considered it and would use the beer and whiskey as an excuse.

"You should be safe to leave the country now," Eames said instead and he sat up slowly. "You going to give Cobb a call?"

"Probably. Going off on my own with no reputation seems like a stupid idea. I had a hard enough time trying to convince clients to take me on as their information man. I imagine thieves are even harder to impress," Arthur replied and he creased his eyebrows. "I can understand the appeal of all of this though. I understand why anyone who goes in rarely comes out." The forger was about to make a joke but decided against it when he saw how serious Arthur was. "I'm not going to lie, Mr. Eames, I'm a little worried about the concept of losing myself."

"Mal has a theory about using something called a 'totem.' It's a small object you keep on your person at all times and you modify it so only you know something specific about it. Like the weight, small imperfections, the lot. I haven't made one myself but it sounds like something to consider." Eames tilted his head. "Do you have doubts?"

"Not at the moment though I don't think even I could come up with someone as obnoxious as you in a dream," Arthur replied and he smiled; it reached his eyes.

"I resemble that remark," Eames replied with mock hurt but he considered the kid in front of him a bit too long because, before he knew it, they were staring at each other in complete silence. Arthur had an impressive poker face for someone who did not gamble but the forger had confidence in his own as well. The kid blinked once and dug into his bag. He gathered his sleep clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Eames did the same and lay down on the uncomfortable bed.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," Arthur said after he emerged. Eames looked over and watched the kid climb into bed in flannels and an undershirt. He admired Arthur's forearms as he lay down. "I'm going to track Cobb down and show up at their door. I figure that would be a good way to make an impression about my skills."

"Just make sure Mal doesn't shoot you," the forger replied and he closed his eyes as the room went dark. He figured it was time to head back to Mombasa and return to his life of blowing his money in casinos and relaxing until he decided to work again. Eames closed his eyes and let the alcohol take him into a deep sleep.

The sound of someone moving in the room woke Eames up early and he sat up to see Arthur fully dressed and packing his things. He looked prim and proper as always and glanced up when he felt Eames' eyes on him.

"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye? Oh love, that's just cold," the forger said and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Don't call me that," he said as he packed the rest of his things. "I do have manners, you know." Eames rolled out of bed and crossed his arms across his chest as he watched the kid carefully. It was odd knowing that, in reality, he has only known Arthur a little over a month but it felt like closer to a year. The dreams were not real but that did not distort one's perceptions of reality any less. The kid finished his packing and swung his bag over his shoulder, his computer bag in hand. "Should I bring the PASIV with me and return it to Cobb?"

"I guess. I don't use it outside of jobs; the addiction to the jobs is enough, I don't need to be shooting up in my off times too," Eames replied and he shrugged. "Any plans on how you're going to get from here to wherever you want to go?"

"I was going to take the car and let you steal one on your own," Arthur replied and he smirked; Eames was not sure if he should be flattered or insulted.

"Fair enough," the forger replied and he walked over so he stood in front of Arthur. He had abandoned staying out of the kid's personal space long ago and Arthur had stopped reacting to it after a while as well. Arthur put his bag on the ground and offered his hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Eames, for everything," he said and Eames could tell that he meant it. He took the kid's hand and clasped it tightly.

"We'll just say that you owe me one," Eames replied and that earned him a small smile.

"Do you keep a list?" Arthur asked.

"Only for you, love," he replied as Arthur released his hand. He stared for what felt like a long time and before Eames could react the kid shoved him against the wall and leaned in close. It took a great deal of self control to hide his surprise when Arthur kissed him, hard, hands clutching his upper arms tightly enough to leave bruises. Arthur pulled back only an inch or so but stayed close, his grip just as tight.

"Don't call me that," he said and he was out the door before Eames could get a word in. He stood dumbfounded for a moment before he smiled to himself. The forger knew it would be a lie if he said he was not looking forward to working with Arthur in the future. He walked over to the open door and watched the car pull away; he leaned against the frame and stood there just watching the car vanish into the distance.

"Until next time then, darling," Eames said to the empty room.


End file.
